Levante boss Juan Ignacio Martinez praised his players’ integrity after losing to two penalties in the defeat at Real Valladolid.
Los Granotes also had defender David Navarro sent off for a second yellow card after he had handled in the box, and Martinez reckoned his team had been hard done by.
“I don’t want to comment on the performance of referee Iglesias Villanueva because I said the same thing last year in Madrid,” he told assembled media after the game.
“The punishment for the penalty was too harsh. It was already a penalty but not all handball offences are a yellow card.
“It was his [the referee’s] judgement and we must respect that, but it was a struggle after the second penalty and we fell away after that.”
Even so, Martinez congratulated his players for their attitude, although he believed they could have been more adventurous.
“My team showed great integrity and we even went on the attack when we were a man down.
“We should have done that from the start and perhaps were a little too cautious.
“If Iborra’s header against the crossbar had gone in we could have maybe embarrassed Valladolid,” he maintained.
